Lithuanians find Belarusians, Russians most hostile nations

14 сентября 2012, 02:13

An opinion poll conducted in Lithuania in August found that Lithuanians viewed Belarus and Russia as the most hostile nations.

Only 10 percent of the interviewed believed that Belarus was a friendly nation and 33 percent called it "rather friendly," whereas eight percent considered Minsk’s policy regarding Lithuania to be hostile and 43 percent called it rather hostile, according to news website delfi.lt.

Russia was described as a friendly nation by 14 percent, as very friendly by 32 percent, as hostile to Lithuania by 10 percent and as rather hostile by 40 percent.

Between 80 and 90 percent of the interviewed regarded Latvia, Estonia, Germany, the United States as friendly nations, whereas Poland was called a friendly nation by 57 percent.

Although it is widely thought that Lithuanians believe they are surrounded by friends, not enemies, the poll shows that Lithuanians hold a more reserved attitude toward neighboring countries, commented Kestutis Girnius, a senior lecturer at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science.

The poll found that Latvia is the friendliest country in the opinion of Lithuanians. Ninety percent of the interviewed described it as a friendly country and only one percent as hostile and five percent as rather hostile.

Germany was called a friendly nation by 89 percent, Estonia by 87 percent and the United States by 81 percent of the interviewed.